Wait… did Bob Myers just shut down Stephen A. Smith on live TV? Yep. And not with a chuckle or subtle deflection. We’re talking full-on “Don’t do that. That’s over the line.” Oof. You could feel the air get thick. No one, and we mean no one, tells Stephen A. to back off. But this time, he got rebuffed.
So what triggered this ESPN heatwave? It all started with a seemingly harmless, curiosity-drenched question from Stephen A. to Kendrick Perkins. Something about body fat percentages and comeback stats. A lil’ locker-room transparency, right? Wrong. Bob Myers wasn’t having it. He immediately cut in like a coach calling time-out in the final seconds. Cue: peak awkward tension.
Now picture this: the Lakers have just taken another L. Their season just ended against the Wolves. The vibes are low. Spirits are testy. And emotions? Hotter than a courtside seat at Game 5. And in strolls Stephen A. Smith, America’s favorite sports provocateur, ready to stir the pot with a little poking. “Would you mind informing us of what your body fat was when you came back a month later?”
Bob Myers vs. Stephen A. Smith: The Showdown ESPN Didn’t Script (But Secretly Needed)
Stephen A. wasn’t asking for blood work or a DNA swab. Just some numbers. Some good old athlete transparency. But apparently, asking about Kendrick Perkins’ body fat post-comeback was a bridge too far, at least in Bob Myers’ eyes. He cut in twice, visibly irritated, essentially telling Stephen A. to back off. “You don’t have to answer, “said Myers.
Shout out to Bob for this
SAS is a moron for asking this on TV pic.twitter.com/C97gZrdUCU
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) May 3, 2025
And while the grown men in suits sparred over etiquette, Big Perk sat cool as ice. “I’m not ashamed,” he said. “I was at 26%, and when I came back, I was at 15%.” Boom. Numbers dropped. Just like that. And well, the tension lifted…well, kind of. Let’s pause here, though. 26% body fat to 15% in a month? That’s not a stat, that’s a transformation montage. Perkins clearly wasn’t rattled. He owned it, and rightly so. But the situation still didn’t amuse Myers. The tension wasn’t really about the numbers, now was it?
This wasn’t the first time Stephen A. Smith sparked pushback from within ESPN. When he questioned Shohei Ohtani’s marketability on First Take—arguing that the Angels star’s lack of English fluency made it harder to grow baseball’s popularity in the U.S.—critics quickly responded.
Clinton Yates tweeted, “Speaking English is not a requirement to be a tremendous anything, never mind baseball player,” while Pablo Torre challenged the notion that Ohtani should cater to American media norms. Smith apologized twice—once on Twitter and again on First Take. In a rare reversal, the following episode saw him listening as colleagues like Jeff Passan and Joon Lee led the conversation, offering a broader perspective on language, culture, and representation in sports.
So then, could it be that Bob was actually protecting Kendrick Perkins’ emotional space? Has the culture shifted where athletes and analysts are now more vulnerable than ever? And fair game or not, that vulnerability still deserves grace? Bob Myers, off his executive perch at the Warriors and relatively new to the ESPN analyst life, might be carrying that front office mindset. One where certain things are off-limits, confidential, and sacred.
But ESPN isn’t a locker room. It’s a war room. One built on bold takes, blunt truths, and viral moments. Did Bob forget that? Or was this a deliberate attempt to redraw the line between personal and professional? Either way, the studio wasn’t big enough for both their egos that night. But is Bob Myers just a new analyst, or a new sheriff in town?
Let’s not pretend this is Stephen A.’s first rodeo. He’s pushed buttons, poked bears, and asked far wilder questions over the years. That’s his brand. He doesn’t do “softball.” He does headlines. But maybe the game is changing. Maybe the appetite for hard-nosed sports journalism is colliding with a new culture of respect, privacy, and protection. Or maybe… this is all just the next great ESPN saga in the making. One where producers are secretly loving every second of the backlash.
The body fat question was never just about percentages. It cracked open a deeper debate: What’s fair game on live sports TV? Who decides the line between curiosity and confrontation? And most importantly, what happens the next time Stephen A. leans in too hard, and someone leans back? Because if last night proved anything, it’s this: ESPN’s hottest rivalry might not be Lakers vs. Wolves. But it might just be Stephen A. Smith vs. Bob Myers. And we’re here for every second of it.
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